


a royal resplendence

by abitchlikethis



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Modern Royalty, Royalty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 20:06:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15893199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abitchlikethis/pseuds/abitchlikethis
Summary: clarke griffin is a normal girl until she meets a mysterious stranger who will change her life forever.





	a royal resplendence

**Author's Note:**

> royals/nobility au where i didn't see ANY on ao3 so now i'm writing one because apparently i have a ton of au's i want to see and no couple i love more than bellarke so... yeah
> 
> if you squint it's loosely based on one of those dumb choices games except you don't have to pay for this ish

Clarke Griffin loved New York City. Probably because she wasn’t from there – just another small-town girl enamored with big city life, she had moved there as soon as she had turned eighteen and her mother couldn’t legally keep her in Arcadia. She was going to go the prestigious school she had earned a spot in and one day, she would become a doctor… and no one was going to stand in her way.

Except herself, of course.

 

* * *

 

 

The pub she’s sequestered in tonight is packed to the brim with all sorts of different types – a group of meatheads yelling at one of the corner televisions over a Yankees game, college kids taking up the bar top just to do shots, and the usual cropping of locals who’ll sit anywhere if they get their fix.

Clarke sips her beer at a seat close to the door to the kitchens, ignoring the distinct bustling of a busy shift as she scrolled through her Facebook feed.

“You’re really not going to stay?” came a dejected tone, and Clarke was already forcing the fakest sorry-I-can’t-even-though-we-both-know-I-can as she looked up at Becca, the other (and only) bartender on duty tonight despite the unexpected crowd. Clarke took a big breath as she got ready to explain herself to her colleague, but as luck would have it, she was saved.

“I’m so so SO sorry, Becca!” Luna sighed as she rushed into the bar, ducking under the gateway access and hurriedly readying herself for the shift Becca was _just_ about to beg Clarke to pick up. Becca glanced at both girls, her expression unreadable before she sighed and moved towards the other side of the bar.

Finishing up her beer, Clarke got ready to make her way home. The bartending job was just something she had picked up on the side during undergrad years ago for cash on the weekends and ended up being the catalyst for Clarke’s… peculiar way of life. Sure, the bachelor’s degree went down smoothly – but then came the medical school applications, tours, professor sit downs, recruitments, rejections…. Before she would even be allowed to start her long journey towards licensure. It was a big, scary dream in a big, scary _new_ city and in all honesty, Clarke didn’t fault herself for allowing it to pass her by (even if her mother did). She liked art, especially painting, and had an eye for a specific style of painting using charcoal alongside watercolors. Sometimes, she made money off her art, which was cool. Clarke was bartending when a patron was complaining about not having a pet sitter, and suddenly, Clarke was making money doing that too. New York turned into a city of endless opportunities, as long as Clarke got a fair price. Her phone calendar would simply ring with a travel time reminder, and off Clarke went to wherever that day’s adventure took her.  

Freelance writing? Check. Art class modeling? A given. Temp agency extraordinaire? Absolutely.

Working all the time just to pay for her sad excuse of a studio apartment in a city one could only be so in love with seemed like a pretty miserable existence to most of her peers. However, Clarke’s ambitious side took all the adversity in stride and enjoyed the active schedule she maintained. Maybe it was the only thing keeping her from going crazy after all these years.

Clarke knocked back the rest of her beer, pulled her jacket on, tossed a tip out for Becca, and left her barstool in a gracefully fluid motion, twirling off the seat towards the front door without really looking up from her phone when she ran into something… _solid._

There was a soft _oomfph!_ sound, and the clattering of Clarke’s phone as it went sailing across the bar’s floor. Clarke was knocked back towards the ground by the sheer force she had run into the object with, but instead strong hands cradled the backs of her arms and steadied her back into place.

“I’m _so sorry_ ,” she was already blurting out as the blonde looked up, only to have the wind knocked back out of her as she realized she was being gazed down upon by an _incredibly_ handsome, brown-eyed man, who was still supporting her gently.

“Are you alright?” he asked with a kind smile and if Clarke’s brain hadn’t turned into a complete pile of mush, she may have prevented what she said next.

“Never better,” and then she fucking _smirked,_ before Clarke realized she was coming on a bit stronger than modern romance protocol deemed necessary.

“Well –” the stranger grinned back as he lightly let go of her arms, and in that moment, Clarke couldn’t believe the things she would have said or did to get him to hold her again. She wasn’t even _drunk_.

“I called earlier actually, I’m looking for the owner of this establishment. I’m interested in renting it for a private party,” the man continued, his warm gaze becoming even more imploring. Before he could ask the question she could already see forming in his mind, Clarke cut him off with a brief shake of her head, “Ah, we spoke on the phone then. I was the bartender for the lunch shift. Becca is the owner, she’s right over there, near the baseball guys. She’ll speak to you, for sure.”

With that, Clarke had nothing left to say, and sadly she couldn’t run into him twice. The stranger smiled down at her for a few moments too long before looking over her head towards Becca, and Clarke took that as her cue to duck out before she got herself into a situation she’d regret – she had a big day tomorrow. The door was already closing behind her before the man could say another word.


End file.
